Spend winter in Scottsdale

Kenny Perry hits a tee shot on the 17th hole during the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on the Cochise Course at The Desert Mountain Club this month in Scottsdale, Arizona. The event is a huge draw for spectators. File / Getty Images

Sandals instead of winter boots; sunshine instead of winter slush. Golf on spectacular and numerous courses. A ranking as one of the top “foodie” destinations in the United States. More than 100 art galleries. And, believe it or not, an Old West reputation that rivals Calgary’s.

Is there anything not to like about Scottsdale?

Of the more than 700,000 Canadians who visited Scottsdale in 2012 (an increase of 3.4 per cent over the previous year), more than 33 per cent of those visitors were from Alberta, according to the Arizona Office of Tourism.

And “Canada is the top grossing international market for Scottsdale,” says Stephanie Pressler, communications manager for the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Those Canadians stayed an average 21 nights — reflecting the strong snowbird population.

Pressler says a recent study of just 11 Scottsdale resorts (not monthly rental or owned accommodation), found that Calgarians spent about $1,400 per person and averaged 3.5 days at a time.

One of the top reasons for Scottsdale’s attractions is Calgarians’ overall passion for golf.

A recent study found that that while other markets were seeing a decrease in golf participation, Scottsdale — which Sports & Leisure Research Group refers to as “the world’s finest golf destination” — saw an increase of 10.3 per cent in golf rounds played in the first quarter of this year.

Pressler says Scottsdale has seen new golf courses, like the Ambiente at the Camelback golf club, open across the city’s sprawling 75 hectares of land, adding to the more than 200 courses in the Phoenix area.

“You also get fun things at courses like Westin Kierland with its (Great Scott Experience) where you play in kilts with a glass of scotch afterwards, or ride Segways (that have air conditioning and a bag rack in back), or on bikes,” she says.

Scottsdale also annually hosts two of the biggest professional golf tournaments in the U.S.

The Waste Management Phoenix Open (with its famous 16th hole that leads into a stadium of about 15,000 screaming fans) at the Fairmont Scottsdale resort, attracts more fans every year than any other golf tournament.

And this year, it was announced the Charles Schwab Cup, the final $2.5 million tournament that rounds up the Champions Tour at the beginning of November, will for three consecutive years, at least, be hosted by North Scottsdale’s Cochise Course at Desert Mountain.

Bob Jones, Chief Operating Officer of Desert Mountain, a luxury residential project with six member-owned Jack Nicklaus courses (and about 90 Canadian owners, the majority of them from Calgary), says the unprecedented three-year agreement with the Champions Tour brings international attention to Desert Mountain from the top Golf Channel markets of Canada, China and the United Kingdom.

“When we hosted the Charles Schwab Cup for the first time in 2012 (the next year it went to San Francisco), we immediately sold four homesites,” because of the course and development’s showcase during the event.

He says Desert Mountain’s high profile also reflects the City of Scottsdale’s commitment to providing support for all manner of sports and culture, to attract visitors and business to the area.

Famed golfer and course designer Nicklaus has described the Cochise course at Desert Mountain as one of the most picturesque in the world. He won four times on the course, when it hosted the tour’s Tradition competition prior to 2001.

Pressler says another recent big Scottsdale attraction has been the past summer’s opening of the massive TopGolf Riverfront facility. The 65,000-square-foot venue features three levels of semi-climate-controlled golf bays from which players hit micro-chipped golf balls at dartboard-like targets that track each shot’s distance and accuracy.

And while Alberta snowbirds come in search of the area’s golf and spa resorts, Pressler says there is also lots of arts and culture in Scottsdale.

“There are over 100 art galleries from Russian impressionists to western art and has the longest running Art Walk in the U.S.,” he says.

In addition, by January, Scottsdale will open its 40,000-square-foot Museum of the West in Old Town Scottsdale, which already reflects the city’s history as “The West’s Most Western Town.”

“Scottsdale has embraced the arts and culture scene and sophistication, but we still have the Rusty Spur, which is the last old western bar, complete with hitching post outside,” says Pressler.

Mike Phillips, public affairs manager for the City of Scottsdale, says the tourism industry in the city of 223,000 people has evolved from visitors in the 1920s who came for the dry air that helped those with allergies and because of the fascination with the Old West. In the ’30s, Scottsdale became a diverse arts centre including the arrival of design icon Frank Lloyd Wright.

Today, he says, there is a combination of previous draws plus a strong base of adventure tourism.

“We are in a unique environment with the largest urban preserve — the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. There are 130 miles of trailheads; there’s hiking, horseback riding, and ATV/Jeep tours” across 30,000 acres of desert.

Then there is Major League Baseball’s spring training, where 15 professional teams come to the Phoenix area, three of them playing in Scottsdale at the Scottsdale Stadium or the Salt River Fields: the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies.

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